I am joyfully creating a new relationship with my inner critic.

The useful move isn't silencing it, it's giving it a job it's actually good at. A proofreader is invaluable at eleven at night on the final pass and catastrophic at nine in the morning on the first draft. Same person, same skill, wrong hour.

There is genuine information in the criticism. It does spot the weak paragraph, the bit you skipped, the excuse. It's just chronically early, and vastly overqualified for what it keeps being asked to do.

So: a new arrangement rather than a war. Something along the shape of not now, come back Thursday, bring specifics. It responds surprisingly well to being taken seriously and given boundaries. Most things do.